1. Field of the Invention
The apparatus and method of the present invention relate generally to molds for shaping moldable materials and more particularly to a reusable mold with freestanding walls capable of being formed in any desired shape for use with edible andd nonedible materials and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is often desirable to provide a mold for shaping moldable materials in any desired shape. For example, such molds have proven useful in molding, baking or freezing edible materials such as cakes, gelatins, custards, ice creams, casseroles, ground meats, decorative ice shapes, butter or margarine, etc. Likewise, such molds have been used for nonedible materials such as ceramic, plaster, clay or plastic objects. Furthermore, the mold outline has found utility as a design pattern or design tracer for drawing, sewing, woodworking, or stenciling for spray painting, to name a few of the numerous examples.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,015,097 issued Sept. 24, 1935 to H.T. Bowman et al. describing A method and Apparatus For Shaping Edible Products, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,128,725 issued Apr. 14, 1964 to W. C. Becker et al. for Methods and Apparatus For Shaping Baking Materials and the Like, describe typical prior art attempts to develop a formable mold for the uses mentioned above. These molds are generally not reusable and are designed to be disposable, being constructed of paper, cardboard or similar nonpermanent material. Thus the molds tend to react unfavorably to the material to be molded, which generally is a liquid or moist material. The walls of the mold may become saturated and break down or warp, causing leakage of the moldable material through or under the mold. In addition, the mold walls may absorb the material or impart an undesirable taste or coloring to the material being molded. It has also been found that such molds may crimp when bent in particular design configurations, thereby limiting their usefulness as a universally shapable wall. It has further been found that difficulty may be experienced in separating the mold wall from the hardened material, resulting in destruction of the mold or the molded product, or both.
It has been proposed to use bars, flanges and other support features to hold the mold wall sections in a vertical position to retain the mold shape as well as prevent undesired expansion of the molded material, such as might occur during baking or freezing of an edible product. Such supports require a base or outer wall to provide structural integrity. Intricate designs are discouraged since an unwieldy number of support bars or flanges are required to adequately support the non-freestanding wall. In addition, such support means to nothing to prevent leakage beneath the mold wall. Thicker mold wall elements have not provided a satisfactory solution to the problem inasmuch as such walls do not permit the degree of flexibility necessary to construct intricate designs.
It has also been proposed to use tabs, with or without an adhesive, located on the bottom edge of the mold wall for stabilization and sealing. These tabs prevent intricate designs since the tabs tend to overlap and bunch when the wall section is bent. In addition, wall section bends may only be made between tabs, limiting the size and shape of the formed products. Slits located in a pan base for receiving the tabs have also proved ineffective. For example, approximately 200 randomly arranged slits would be necessary in a pan bottom to accommodate a mold capable of producing only ten designs and would be unnecessarily confusing to the user. In addition, slits aid in warpage of the pan bottom, allowing gaps between the pan and the wall sections permitting leakage of the moldable material. It has been found that, once a slit has been used and the tab removed, the slit becomes stretched or distended rendering the pan bottom unsuitable for reuse.
Prior art workers have also suggested design outlines preprinted on a pan bottom which the user may use as a guide to form the outline of the wall mold sections. It has been found, however, that such techniques using more than five designs, even if printed in different colors, prove confusing to the user and impossible to follow. Hence, the number of designs available from a particular mold in the past has been severely limited.